Australia At Risk From Zika Outbreak If Disease Spreads To Asia: Expert

Aedes aegypti mosquitoes sit in a petri dish at the Fiocruz institute in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016. The mosquito is a vector for the proliferation of the Zika virus currently spreading throughout Latin America. New figures from Brazil's Health Ministry show that the Zika virus outbreak has not caused as many confirmed cases of a rare brain defect as first feared. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

The potentially deadly Zika virus could hit Australia this year, with far north Queensland the most likely location of an outbreak as global concern spreads about the devastating disease.

Recent outbreaks of the mosquito-born disease in a number of nations, including more than 1 million cases in Brazil, have been linked to serious birth defects such as microcephaly, which causes babies to have exceptionally small brains.

The World Health Organization (WHO) now forecasts 3 to 4 million people could be infected with Zika virus in the Americas in 2016 and has labelled the virus as "spreading explosively". The WHO will host an emergency meeting on the unfolding situation next week.

James Cook University tropical disease expert, Professor Scott Ritchie, said it was "not that likely" an outbreak would occur in Australia, but warned that if it did north Queensland's wet season was the most likely time.

"For Cairns the highest risk period is going to be the wet season," Ritchie told The Huffington Post Australia. "It may not get to southeast Asia but I suspect it probably will."

"The scenario for us being under a higher risk would be if this zika outbreak spreads into southeast Asia like Indonesia and particularly Bali and they had a big epidemic there, then you'll see a lot of Australians import the virus."

No Zika virus in Australia, but travelers can be infected. Short Answers to Hard Questions About Zika Virus https://t.co/UNWSZ0DhBU

One stumbling block in halting the virus is that can be difficult to pick up during pregnancy. One woman, whose baby shows signs of the effects of Zika, recently described her son's birth as the "worst day of her life".

There is currently no vaccine to prevent Zika virus and no specific treatment for it.

In response to the outbreak, some officials in El Salvador, where abortions are banned and birth control is tough to obtain, are said to be promoting a two-year ban on pregnancy. But there are also reports the fast-spreading disease could prompt Latin American countries to relax abortion laws.